1860] AT HARTFORD 45
has drawn a line across the land, below which it
must be cultivated by slave labor, above which
by free labor. They would say: "If the question
is between the white man and the negro, I am
for the white man; if between the negro and
the crocodile, I am for the negro." There is a
strong effort to make this policy of indifference
prevail, but it cannot be a durable one. A "don't
care" policy won't prevail, for everybody does
care.
Is there a Democrat, especially one of the
Douglas wing, but will declare that the Declara-
tion of Independence has no application to the
negro? It would be safe to offer a moderate
premium for such a man. I have asked this
question in large audiences where they were in
the habit of answering right out, but no one
would say otherwise. Not one of them said it
five years ago. I never heard it till I heard it
from the lips of Judge Douglas. True, some
men boldly took the bull by the horns and said
the Declaration of Independence was not true!
They didn't sneak around the question. I say I
heard first from Douglas that the Declaration
did not apply to the black man. Not a man of
them said it till then — they all say it now. This
is a long stride toward establishing the policy of
indifference — one more such stride, I think,
would do it.
The proposition that there is a struggle be-
tween the white man and the negro contains a
falsehood. There is no struggle. If there was,
I should be for the white man. If two men are
adrift at sea on a plank which will bear up but
one, the law justifies either in pushing the other
off. I never had to struggle to keep a negro
